Mumbai, April 1: A Mumbai-based 65-year-old man fell victim to a scam on a dating website and was duped of Rs 46 lakh. After he approached the police in January 2019, a probe was launched and an FIR was registered on March 29. The website - www.locanto.net - offered the victim to get him in touch with a young woman and charged him for various services such as privacy, video call facility and premium membership.

"When I checked the website, I saw a tab, ‘looking for.’ I then clicked on 'entertainment'. I was asked to register on the site. When I completed the registration, I received a call from a woman named Meera," the man, who is married, said in his statement to the police, as reported by Mid-day. Meera showed him three pictures of women and asked him to pay Rs 25,500 to meet one of them. Class 12 Student Duped of Rs 3.6 Lakh on Online Dating App Promising Date With Woman.

Meera further asked him to pay Rs 82,500 as privacy fee — to ensure his number would not be shared, Rs 1.75 lakh for video call insurance and Rs 2.85 lakh to make a contract with the girl for a year. He was also asked to pay Rs 2.85 lakh to make a contract with the girl for a year and Rs 5.50 lakh for profile verification. This all happened on May 5.

Two days later, Meera called him again and to pay Rs 26.50 lakh for premium membership, and Rs 50,000 as extra charges. After paying around Rs 38.17 lakh, the victim was given the contact number of a girl called Rosy. He received calls from Rosy a couple of times. A few days later, Meera called the man again and asked if he was 'happy with Rosy'. Tinder Horror! Woman Tricks Around 100 Men On Dating App By Gathering Them For a Mass Dating Competition (Watch Video).

Meera said if he was, he would have to pay Rs 7.85 lakh as 'holding charges,' so that her profile would not be shared with other customers. But, after paying the money, he didn’t get any response. The worried man then started calling Meera and Rosy for a refund, but none of them replied. Till January 2019, the man thought he would get his money back if he kept insisting.

However, when he didn't get his money back, the helpless man filed an application with the Kurar police station. A case against unknown persons have been registered under IPC sections 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating) and relevant sections of the Information and Technology Act, 2000. No arrest has been made so far.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 01, 2019 01:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).